Service for receiving obsolete web page copies

Abstract

The state of network-accessible information is preserved by recognizing a reference to a uniform resource locator contained within an electronic file where the uniform resource locator provides an address for content to be preserved. A copy of at least a portion of the information associated with the recognized uniform resource locatoris obtained defining relevant content for preservation. A determination is also made as to whether the relevant content of the recognized uniform resource locator has changed since obtaining the copy of the relevant content. If a change is detected, an indication of the change is conveyed, e.g., to a corresponding user.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method of preserving the state of network-accessible information, and conveying notifications of changes to said network accessible information, the method comprising:
 receiving, by a computer server providing a preservation and notification service, a preservation request from a requesting client machine, the preservation request comprising an indication of a portion of information addressed by a uniform resource locator that defines relevant content for preservation, and contact information associated with the preservation request;   in response to receiving the preservation request, obtaining, by the computer server, a copy of the portion of the information addressed by the uniform resource locator that defines relevant content for preservation;   storing, by the computer server, the obtained copy of the defined relevant content to create a pre-modified copy of the defined relevant content and in a manner that associates the stored content with the identified contact information; and   when the computer-server has identified that the portion of the information addressed by the uniform resource locator has changed, conveying, by the computer server, a notification to the requesting client machine that a change to the portion of the information addressed by the uniform resource locator that defines the relevant content has been identified.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the preservation request is communicated in response to identifying either manually by a user, or automatically by an electronic process, a reference to the uniform resource locator in an electronic file. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 2 , wherein the receiving the preservation request comprises receiving a programmatically generated message from a corresponding application that is associated with the electronic file that contains the recognized uniform resource locator. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising recognizing a reference to the uniform resource locator in an electronic file by scanning electronic files on at least one of a user processing device or at least one network accessible storage location to identify files containing uniform resource locators that address content for preservation. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein receiving the preservation request comprises implementing, by the computer server, at least one predefined rule or policy to distinguish relevant content from a remainder of content associated with the uniform resource locator. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising at least one of polling or subscribing to changes to the corresponding content associated with the uniform resource locator. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1  further comprising establishing, by the computer server, at least one policy that sets an expiration after which no additional monitoring for changes to the relevant content will be conducted. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 7 , wherein at least one policy that sets an expiration for identifying changes to the relevant content is based upon at least one characteristic of an email application, at least one characteristic of a word processing application or at least one characteristic of a presentation application. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein conveying an indication when a change has been detected to the relevant content of the uniform resource locator comprises providing at least one of the copy of the obtained relevant content or a location where the relevant content can be retrieved from a storage location. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the conveying an indication when a change has been detected to the relevant content of the recognized uniform resource locator comprises providing the user with an option of retrieving the stored version of the recognized uniform resource locator or loading a current version of information at the recognized uniform resource locator. 
     
     
         11 . A computer-implemented method of preserving the state of referenced network-accessible information and conveying selected information to a user, comprising:
 executing a client application on a user processing device for:   identifying, by the user processing device, a reference to at least one uniform resource locator in an electronic file, the electronic file associated with a user processing device application other than the client application, wherein said reference identifies contact information, and each referenced uniform resource locator identifies a location of associated content that is desired to be preserved by a user;   obtaining, by the user processing device, from a respective content server, a current copy of the content associated with each identified uniform resource locator;   storing, by the user processing device, local to the user processing device, the obtained copy of the content as an archive version, and in a manner that associated the stored content with the identified contact information;   providing, by the user processing device, the user an option to view either the archived version of the content or a current copy of the content at the recognized uniform resource locator;   receiving, by the user processing device, selection input from the user, the selection input indicating selection by the user to view one of the archived version or the current copy of the content at the references uniform resource locator; and   conveying, by the user processing device, the selected one of the archived version or the current copy to the user.   
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the client application is configured for scanning by the client, electronic files on the client computer system to identify uniform resource locators in predefined document types. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the client application is configured for enabling the user to manually engage the client to obtain the content associated with at least one recognized uniform resource locator. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the client application is configured for enabling a hook into at least one of an email application, a word processing application or a presentation application to identify uniform resource locators to be preserved. 
     
     
         15 . A computer program product for preserving the state of network-accessible information, and conveying notifications of changes to said network accessible information, the method comprising:
 a non-transitory computer usable medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising:   computer usable program code configured to execute on a computer processing device to recognize a reference to a uniform resource locator in an electronic file where the uniform resource locator provides an address for relevant content to be preserved;   computer usable program code configured to execute on the computer processing device to receive, from a requesting client, an indication of a portion of information addressed by the uniform resource locator that defines the relevant content to be preserved, and contact information associated with the received indication;   computer usable program code configured to execute on the computer processing device to obtain a copy the relevant content;   computer usable program code configured to execute on the computer processing device to store the obtained copy of the relevant content to create a pre-modified copy of the defined relevant content and in a manner that associates the stored content with said contact information;   computer usable program code configured to execute on the computer processing device when the computer-server has identified that the portion of the information addressed by the uniform resource locator has changed, to convey to the requesting client, a notification that a change to the portion of the information addressed by the uniform resource locator that defines the relevant content has been identified.   
     
     
         16 . The computer program product according to  claim 15 , wherein said indication is communicated in response to identifying either manually by a user, or automatically by an electronic process, a reference to the uniform resource locator in an electronic file. 
     
     
         17 . The computer program product according to  claim 16 , wherein the received indication comprises receiving a programmatically generated message from a corresponding application that is associated with the electronic file that contains the recognized uniform resource locator. 
     
     
         18 . The computer program product according to  claim 15 , further comprising computer usable program code configured to recognize a reference to the uniform resource locator in an electronic file by scanning electronic files on at least one of a user processing device or at least one network accessible storage location to identify files containing uniform resource locators that address content for preservation. 
     
     
         19 . The computer program product according to  claim 15 , wherein the received indication comprises implementing at least one predefined rule or policy to distinguish relevant content from a remainder of content associated with the uniform resource locator. 
     
     
         20 . The computer program product according to  claim 15 , further comprising computer usable program code configured to at least one of poll or subscribe to changes to the corresponding content associated with the uniform resource locator.